1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a warp knitting machine with a machine base, at least one main shaft, and warp knitting tool bars, which are carried on a plurality of carrier arms, and which are reciprocatable by the main shaft over a gearing mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional construction of such a warp knitting machine is discussed, for example, in the book by Wheatley "Raschel Lace Production," 1972, pages 29, 30, 33 and 209, which show a machine base upon which intermediate walls are attached. In these walls, carrier shafts are supported over the entire breadth of the warp knitting machine, each of which carry one or more warp knitting tool bars (n) (such as needle bars, slider bars, guide bars, sinker bars). Carrier arms for these bars are affixed on these shafts. Each carrier shaft is moved to and fro by means of plurality of push rods which protrude from the machine base and which provide the desired to and fro movement of the appropriate warp knitting tool bar.
Since the drive movement of an eccentric cam on the main shaft cannot be directly used, a gearing mechanism, suitably a coupling gear, is provided in the machine base. The carrier arms are either directly affixed to the carrier shafts or, taken together with a steering lever which is attached to the carrier shaft and a similarly stationary control lever, form a quadrilateral linkage, which provides a movement similar to alignment.
Openings must be provided in the machine base for the protrusion therethrough of push rods. In order to prevent the outflow of oil, these must be closed off with bellows. The noise which is generated by the drive is hardly reduced by these means. Furthermore, the required gearing mechanism between the main shaft and the carrier shaft, including the long push rods, is a substantially large mass, whose acceleration and deceleration during the working movement of the bars, requires the provision of a substantial Mount of energy.
Further disadvantageous is the substantially large space requirement. The reason for this is that the continuous carrier shafts with their associated carrier arms must be displaced with respect to each other in such a manner that they do not mutually interfere during operation of the process.
Accordingly, there is a need in a warp knitting machine of the described type, wherein the emission of noise is reduced and where possible, the consumption of energy is also reduced.